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A Story  of 

Beginnings 


MissionFields 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST 
MISSIONARY  UNION 


TREMONT  TEMPLE,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/storyofbeginningOOamer 


A STORY  OF 
BEGINNINGS 

IN  OUR 

Mission  Fields 


E as  Baptists 
owe  our  be- 
gin n i n g in 
missionary 
work  to  Ado- 
niram  J ud- 
son,  for  if  he 
had  not  be- 
a.  judson  come  a Bap- 

tist, who  can 
say  how  long  it  would  have  taken 
us  to  awake  to  the  grandest  op- 
portunity the  Lord  ever  gave  the 
Christian  Church  ? Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Judson  went 

To  Burma 

not  because  they  chose  to  go 
there,  but  because  they  could  not 
go  anywhere  else.  Missionaries 
were  not  welcomed  in  those  east- 
ern lands  then  as  they  are  today. 
Nothing  but  difficulties  and  hard- 
ships met  them  on  every  hand. 
The  situation  confronting  them 
was  appalling;  cruelty,  barbar- 
ism and  superstition  character- 
ized a people  wholly  given  over 
to  heathenism.  Could  the  gospel 
reach  such  as  these?  For  seven 
years  they  waited  for  an  answer 
to  this  question  before  the  un- 


A Story  of 


speakable  joy  of  baptizing  the 
first  convert  was  experienced. 
Other  missionaries  in  the  mean- 
time came  to  help  them,  preju- 
dice broke  down  little  by  little, 
and  love  gained  the  victory. 
Today  a church  of  40,000  mem- 
bers stands  as  their  “ joy  and 
crown.”  But  what  of  the  mil- 
lions in  that  land  who  have  not 
yet  heard  the  gospel  — Shans, 
Chins,  Kachins,  Talains,  Karens, 
Burmans  and  others? 

But,  as  though  heart  and 
hands  wrcre  not  fully  occupied 
already,  there  came  to  our  mis- 
sionaries in  Burma  one  day,  a 
request  from  a man  in  govern- 
ment service  in 

Assam 


that  a missionary  be  sent  to  that 
region.  It  wras  finally  decided, 
in  1831;,  that  Messrs.  Nathan 
Brown  and  O.  T.  Cutter  should 
j go.  Assam  is  the  place 
where  the  finest  tea  in 
the  world  is  grown,  and 
is  situated  at  the  point 
where  India,  Tibet, 
China  and  Burma  dove- 
tail into  one  another; 
its  great  water-way,  the 
Brahmaputra  R i ve  r, 
constitutes  a natural 
avenue  of  approach  to 
the  great  regions  of 
central  Asia.  Early  mis- 
sionary efforts  among 
these  people  read  like 
a romance ; savage , 


WARRIOR — ASSAM 


Beginnings 


bloodthirsty  tribes  transformed 
into  humble  followers  of  Jesus. 
Some  of  our  most  hopeful  work  to- 
day is  on  these  great  tea  gardens 
where  thousands  of  coolies,  who 
have  come  up  from  central  India, 
are  employed.  Fifty-one  mission- 
aries, our  present  force,  are  not 
very  many  among  6,000.000  peo- 
ple, but  over  7,000  Christians  are 
bearing  faithful  witness  for  Christ 
among  these  various  tribes,  and 
through  their  influence  we  hope 
for  a widespread  knowledge  of 
the  gospel. 


Our  Telugu  Mission 


has  been  called  one  of  the  mira- 
cles of  modern  missions,  and  we 
should  be  profoundly 
grateful  to  God  for  the 
way  the  gospel  has  been 
received.  Our  first 
missionaries,  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  S.  S.  Day, 
settled  eventually  in 
Nellore,  from  which 
point  their  in- 
fluence, and  that  of 
others  who  followed 
them,  has  spread  far 
and  wide.  The  dif- 
ficulties encoun- 
tered in  those  earl}’ 
years,  arising  from 
the  antagonism  of  the  people  and 
the  restrictions  of  caste  were  stu- 
pendous ; but  after  years  of  faith- 
ful preaching  and  patient  waiting, 
the  great  ingathering  came.  July 
3,  1878,  will  ever  be  memorable  in 


HINDU  TEMPLE 


A Story  o f 


the  annals  of  the  Telugu  Mission, 
for  on  that  day  occurred  the  bap- 
tism of  2,222  individuals,  the 
largest  number  baptized  in  one 
day  on  profession  of  personal 
faith  in  Christ  since  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  Other  great  ingath- 
erings followed  this,  until  the 
work  demanded  large  reinforce- 
ments and  thorough  organiza- 
tion. Even  the  force  of  ioo 
missionaries  now  on  the  field  is 
wholly  inadequate  to  care  for 
the  55,000  Christian  Telugus, 
and  reach  the  multitudes  who 
are  ready  to  come. 

When  our  work  in  Burma 
spread  out  into  Siam  we  did  not 
understand  that  that  was  God’s 
way  of  getting  us 

Into  China 

for  there  seemed  little  chance 
then  of  entering  that  great  em- 
pire whose  doors  were  still  shut 
tight  against  foreign  invasion. 
But  in  1842  China  became  in- 
volved in  that  struggle  with  Eng- 
land known  as  the  Opium  War. 
Although  the  result  was  lament- 
able in  the  terrible  curse  that  was 
forced  upon  poor  China,  there 
was  one  redeeming 
feature,  five  coast 
cities  were  opened  to 
foreign  residents.  The 
missionaries  were  not 
slow  to  take  advan- 
tage of  this,  and  our 
splendid  South  China 
and  East  China  mis- 


CHINESE  PRIEST 


Beginnings 


sions  date  from  this 
period.  During  recent 
years  the  opening  up 
of  the  interior  of  the 
empire  has  afforded  a 
grand  opportunity  for 
advance  work.  The 
West  China^and  Cen- 
tral China  missions 
are  growing  rapidly, 
and  many  more  op- 
portunities for  work 
are  presented  than  the  mission- 
aries are  able  to  take  advantage 
of. 


As  in  Burma,  so 
in  Japan 

the  Lord  had  a man  ready  for  the 
work  before  the  Missionary  Union 
realized  that  there  was  work  for 
them  to  do  in  that  land.  Jona- 
than Goble  first  went  to  Japan 
as  a seaman  in  Commodore 
Perry’s  expedition,  which  re- 
sulted in  opening  the  first  port 
to  foreigners.  Having  seen  the 
country  and  the  people,  he  longed 
to  go  back  and  preach  the  gospel. 
Pie  was  sent  out  in  1862  by  the 
American  Baptist  Free  Mission 
Society,  which  became  united 
with  the  Missionary  Union  in 
1872,  and  Mr.  Goble  was  accepted 
by  the  Union  as  our  missionary. 
Rev.  Nathan  Brown,  who  had 
been  a missionary  in  Burma  and 
Assam,  now  went  to  Japan, 
where  he  continued  his  labors 
for  many  years.  Dr.  Brown  en- 
joys the  unique  distinction  of 
having  translated  the  New  Testa- 


A Story  of 


ment  into  two  distinct  languages, 
Assamese  and  Japanese.  There 
are  now  in  Japan  58  missionaries 
and  2,151  members  of  our 
churches,  and  the  outlook  is  full 
of  encouragement  . 

We  thought  by  this  time  we 
had  about  all  the  work  we  could 
manage,  but  we  were  mistaken; 
for,  a little  over  twenty  years 
ago,  some  of  God’s  servants  be- 
gan to  be  heavily  burdened  for 

The  Great  Continent 
of  Africa 


and  its  countless  millions.  While 
considering  where  it  might  be 
wise  to  begin  work,  it 
transpired  that  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Guinness  of 
London  wished  to 
transfer  the  Living- 
stone Inland  Mission 
on  the  Congo  to  other 
hands,  leaving  them- 
selves free  for  further 
pioneer  work.  It  took 
considerable  persuasion  to  make 
the  Board  of  the  Missionary 
LTnion  feel  that  they  could  as- 
sume this  added  care,  but  God 
has  so  blessed  the  mission  all 
these  years  that  there  is  little 
likelihood  of  its  being  given  up. 
So  widespread  has  been  the  in- 
fluence of  the  gospel  that  some 
entire  regions  of  considerable  ex- 
tent have  been  practically  trans- 
formed. The  horrible  fetishes 
and  the  satanic  witch  doctors 
are  disappearing,  and  the  people 


Beginnings 


worship  God  “ in  spirit  and  in 
truth.”  The  scourge  of  sleeping 
sickness  has  carried  off  hundreds 
of  Christians,  but  what  a blessed 
thought  that,  through  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  gospel,  they  have 
gone  to  praise  God  forever  around 
his  throne  in  heaven. 

We  are  reminded  of  the  old 
saying,  “ Some  are  born  great ; 
some  achieve  greatness,  and 
some  have  greatness  thrust  upon 
them.” 


Our  Philippine 
Mission 


was  “ thrust  upon  us,”  as  it  were. 
How  little  we  thought  of  such 
a thing  live  or  six  years  ago! 
Again  the  truth  is  illustrated 
that  “ my  thoughts  are  not  your 
thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways 
my  ways,  saith  the  Lord”;  for 
that  the  Lord  was  in  all  the  won- 
derful movements  that  led  up 
to  our  presence  in  these  islands 
cannot  be  doubted,  judging  from 
the  condition  of  affairs  and  the 
state  of  mind  in  which  the  people 
have  been  found.  Tired  of  Span- 
ish domination  and  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  friars,  many  of  them 
even  in  abject  heathenism,  they 
are  receiving  our  missionaries 
with  an  open-heartedness  truly 
wonderful.  The  14  missionaries 
of  the  Union  now 
on  the  field  find 
heart,  head  and 
hands  fully  ab- 
sorbed, The  native 


FILIPINO  HOUSE 


A Story  of 


church  of  over  400  members  we 
believe  to  be  only  an  earnest 
of  the  future. 

The  Churches  in 
Europe 

We  cannot  attempt  in  this 
brief  sketch  to  mention  in  detail 
how  we  became  involved  in  work 
in  Europe.  As  early  as  1832 
mission  work  was  commenced  in 
France.  Owing  to 
the  gradual  spread 
of  convictions  pe- 
culiar to  the  Bap- 
tists, appeals  were 
made  to  us  for 
help.  In  Germany, 
Norway,  Sweden, 
Denmark,  Russia, 
Finland,  France, 
Switzerland  and 
seminary -GERMANY  Spain  there  are 

today  nearly  1 ,000 
Baptist  churches,  reporting  a total 
of  108,613  members.  The  converts 
come  largely  from  the  Roman 
Catholic  and  formal  state  re- 
ligions. Many  of  them  have 
willingly  suffered  much  for  the 
joy  and  liberty  of  conscience 
which  have  come  to  them  through 
the  gospel  of  Christ. 


By  all  that  we  have  said  it  can 
easily  be  seen  that  in  entering 
one  field  after  another  we  have 
followed  the  divine  guidance. 
Not  only  so;  we  have  really  been 
forced  to  take  up  some  work 
which,  humanly  speaking,  we  did 


Beginnings 


not  seem  able  to  undertake.  We 
have  been  signally  blessed  in 
each  and  all  of  our  fields,  and 
our  contributions  have  increased 
accordingly.  Let  us  trust  God 
even  more  in  the  future,  and  go 
forth  to  other  fields  of  oppor- 
tunity whose  peoples  are  stretch- 
ing forth  their  hands,  and  utter- 
ing the  Macedonian  call 

“ Come  Over 

and  Help  Us.” 


Literature  Department  Jimerican 
Baptist  Missionary  Union  ^ ^ 
Tremont  Temple,  Boston , Mass. 

SAMPLE  COPIES  FREE  ; 25  CENTS  PER  HUNDRED. 


1ED.-10M.-4-04-U. 


